COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Leaving Military: General
Reserve troops facing job woes
Barbara Slavin, USA TODAY
12/8/2006
WASHINGTON — The number of reservists and National Guard members who saythey have been reassigned, lost benefits or been fired from civilian jobs
after returning from duty has increased by more than 70% over the past six
years.
The sharp spike in complaints brought to the U.S. Labor Department reflects
the extensive use of part-time soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, the
largest call up of reserves since the 1950-53 Korean War.
About 500,000 of the 850,000 reservists and National Guard members eligible
for duty have been mobilized since late 2001, said Maj. Rob Palmer,
spokesman for a Pentagon office that tries to resolve job disputes.
Not all have been treated well by their employers when they return home.
After the 1991 Gulf War, "I was welcomed home with ticker tape," said Marc
Garcia, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves. "This time, I get the
door slammed in my face."
Garcia, a member of the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security,
has been called up twice since Sept. 11, 2001, once for Afghanistan and the
last time for stateside duty.
Garcia, 44, had been a supervisor in the Miami office of the security
bureau. When he returned to work early last month, he was given a desk job
in Washington with no clear responsibilities, he said.
Last month, a judge in Atlanta ruled that the State Department violated
Garcia's rights under a 1994 law, which requires employers to give
returning reservists their old jobs or equivalent positions. The law was
passed to address employment problems faced by veterans returning from the
1991 Gulf War.
The Labor Department said it handled 1,548 complaints from returning
service members in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, up from 895 in the year
that ended Sept. 30, 2001. About a third of the cases are resolved in favor
of employees, the department said.
Those numbers don't reflect all the servicemen and women with problems.
Many of the cases are settled before they get to the Labor Department.
The Pentagon received more than 8,000 complaints this year, nearly double
the previous year, but most were resolved without further government
action, Palmer said. Complaints range from being fired, losing chances for
promotion or being reassigned to jobs with less pay or responsibility.
Retired Marine lieutenant general Dennis McCarthy, executive director of
the Reserve Officers Association, a private advocacy group, acknowledged
the deployments can be difficult for employers, particularly small
companies. "That burden is an acceptable cost when it's compared to the
value of reserve service to our country," he said.
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